Government launches survey of sanitary napkin vending machines, incinerators in schools

In a move to ensure menstrual health, the General Education department has launched a survey of sanitary napkin vending machines and incinerators in government schools across the State.

“Based on the survey findings, necessary funds will be allocated in the plan outlay for the next academic year. A total of 203 schools were provided with incinerators in the 2025-2026 academic year. We are awaiting data from schools and will prepare the plan accordingly,” said N.S.K. Umesh, Director of General Education.

The initiative has gained attention against the backdrop of the Supreme Court’s recent ruling that the right to menstrual hygiene is an integral part of the Right to Life under Article 21 of the Constitution. Several schools in the State face multiple challenges in ensuring menstrual hygiene, the foremost being inadequate funding and infrastructure maintenance.

K.V. Manoj, Principal, Government Higher Secondary School, Vaduvanchal, Wayanad, who is part of the district monitoring team of teachers, said while vending machines and incinerators in his school were functional, he had often observed that they tend to develop glitches in a few schools.

“Our challenge is not poor infrastructure but its management. In our school, menstrual cups, supplied by the Suchitwa Mission, are also distributed for free,” he added.

Saji M., Principal, Government Vocational Higher Secondary School for Girls, Manacaud, Thiruvananthapuram, said that despite measures to keep vending machines and incinerators running, their upkeep is difficult. “The two machines that we have are not functional anymore. We believe some students did not take due care while using them, and they stopped working,” he said.

“Incinerators are obtained through sponsorships. However, we lack enough funds to replace or repair them,” he said.

Meanwhile, vending machines at Government Girls Higher Secondary School, Cotton Hill, Thiruvananthapuram, one of the largest girls’ schools in the continent, are fully functional. “We have six functional napkin vending machines. We also supply menstrual cups to students with the permission of their parents. Furthermore, we organise awareness classes too,” said Greeshma V., Principal of the school.

Anusreemol, vice-principal, Kendriya Vidyalaya, Kadavanthra, Kochi, said the girls’ washroom is equipped with vending machines and incinerators.

However, there are schools where students have to pay to operate the machines. “In some schools, coins have to be deposited to dispense napkins, which is unaffordable for several students” said a student of Government Higher Secondary School, Poomala, Thrissur.

A student of Kendriya Vidyalaya Kalpetta, Wayanad, too concurs. “We need to insert coins to get napkins from the machines in our school. Currently, they are out of order. Hence, students collect napkins from teachers,” said the student.